i bought a 79 rx7 that hasnt run in 5 years. at first it wasnt getting any gas so we dropped the fuel tank and blew out the lines with compressed air and ran metal wire through them. still didnt start so we rebuilt the carb. then it started and it would idle but when you tried to drive it would go 50 feet and cut off. when we disconnected the fuel line from the carb no gas would be coming out of it. so we figured the fuel pump was bad. we got a universal aftermarket pump and the same thing happened. the fuel pump is only sucking air and a little bit of gas will trickle out. the tank has about 7 gallons in it. im thinking the line inside the tank has holes in it near the top so its not able to suck the gas very well. any ideas?

 

Is the inside of the tank full of crude? Because that could be clogging your pickup. Try draining the tank and having it cleaned out.

 

the inside of the tank is pretty clean. the line doesnt seem to be clogged because you can blow air into it

 

You've checked the filter, I presume?

Another place to check is to ensure that none of the flexible lines from the tank to the pump are kinked. I had a similar problem and it was due to a kinked rubber line that was almost impossible to detect.

 

my 85 was doing the same thing ( it sat for 7 years) the fuel tank had lots of jelled pecis of old fuel i put on a clean tank and it works good. and make shure that the pick up is clean to.

 

Check with your local radiator shops and find one that professionally cleans fuel tanks. I checked locally and one shop offers the service for $40.

 

fuel filter is brand new. the line going from the tank to the pump is about a foot long and no kinks. even if we have it going from the gas tank directly to the pump and trying to pump gas into a small bucket, it just barely sputters out gas. but the lines arent clogged because i can blow air through them

 

Sounds like a tank problem for sure, then.

 

i had this same problem for three days this week i replaced the filter the fuel pump the check valve and dleaned the floats. after all that the problem turned out to be the soft lines before and after the pump cost me about $100 to fix a $5 problem. mine sat for five years as well.

replace the soft line then go to the hard stuff even if it doesnt fix it there cheap and it wont hurt

 

is there anywhere i can get a NEW gas tank for my se the seem has a crack in it and i need to find a better one(preferably new)